One cannot be a Christadelphian for long without realising that within a comparatively small membership there are many and varied activities. Some of these relate to what we can call the domestic side of the life of the church. Others are concerned more with the evangelistic work of the ecclesia, that is the group of activities devoted to the preaching of the gospel. Our Gospel Proclamation Societies are specifically devoted to this work. They initiate and organise public efforts in preaching. But no organisation can make bricks without straw, and for the supply and training of speakers they must look elsewhere.
Where do they look ? They look, I am sure, most hopefully to the Mutual Improvement Society for men who will come and uphold the torch of truth and who are prepared and qualified to preach the gospel with conviction and effect. This is because the Mutual Improvement Society is concerned with the training of speakers, although in fact that is only part of its work. Primarily it is a Society devoted to the understanding of God’s Word and “to the improvement of its members in writing, reading and speaking”. The Mutual classes are study classes, but the field of study is a wide one for it includes not only the Bible, but methods of preparing and presenting an address.
It is one thing to know your Bible, to be well informed and to be reasonably well educated, but it is quite another to be able to communicate to others what you know. It is possible for a bad speaker to confuse rather than enlighten his listeners, to have a full mind but not an ordered mind, to go on talking long after the interest of his hearers has been lost and, worst of all, to remain blissfully unaware of these facts. Now all this can be avoided by some training, and in our organisation the Mutual class is the only one specifically devoted to this task. In part, this training consists of criticism of addresses delivered. Such criticism is by no means a matter of fault finding, but an appraising of what has been said, by appreciating its strength as well as its weakness, and by recommending changes in the form or the content of an address which are likely to improve it. All that is to the good, and if we desire to serve God to the best of our powers it is something we ought to do, for we are all capable of a great deal in the way of self-development, and training can make us much more competent.
How delightful is a good, clear, expressive public reading of the Scriptures and how painful a bad one can be. Yet many Christadelphians started as bad readers, but by persistent practice not only in the Mutual classes but at home, too, they are now readers whom we can hear with pleasure. It is the same with speaking. Not one in a hundred is a born speaker. But until we apply ourselves to the task we do not really know what we can do. At first, to speak a few words in front of others may be a painful experience—for all concerned. But that strangeness will gradually disappear, and we ought to see that it does, for we have something important to say to our fellows. Let us not then be afraid of saying it, and saying it well.
The would-be speaker has to learn how to use language. How much lies in the power of words ! The words we use are the tools by which we achieve our results. Words and phrases which are familiar groups of words can be stale, flat, unprofitable and deadly dull, slipping through the mind like coins worn thin by constant use. If we use language without thought, our words are likely to be uninspiring—listened to without interest and forgotten without regret. But our language is rich, and the resources of spiritual truth are without limit. We need therefore to fashion it into something that will penetrate the calloused surface of the mind, awaken thought and unshackle the imagination.
Our words must be chosen for the purpose in view. If we are reasoning, then they must be the faithful expression of lucid thought, the instruments of a sane and logical argument. But logic is not enough, and the terms that belong to logical argument are not enough. Our hearts and consciences must be awakened. This is especially true of exhortation. Here the inner self, that watches us like an interested spectator, must be aroused to action, its complacency must be shattered, its defences broken down until again it hears the voice of God and responds to his call. Think, too, of the imaginative scope that lies in the thought of the coming Kingdom. It beckons us like a sunlit and flower-filled meadow in bare July. This is no idle dreaming, because it belongs to the very fabric of faith—this loveliness that is to be. When our hearts are bruised with sorrow, then its fragrance comes stealing gently to soothe and heal. When our minds are weary with the ways of the world, we think of the heavenly righteousness that will break over this world, like sunshine piercing the mists of some dark cloud, of a voice that will speak and to which all men will listen, of an upsurging of human faith and hope, of mankind moving to a new and noble impulse, of the entry into life of a new radiance and a thrilling exaltation never known since Adam walked in Eden.
If it is true that in our Mutual classes we can improve our use of language, it is also true that we can learn to think logically and methodically. No speaker can neglect with impunity this mental training. Private thinking must come before public speaking. By discussion, the exchange of views, we clarify our own thought and this training is valuable, whether we intend to be platform speakers or whether we work in the Sunday school, or even if we speak the word in season to our neighbours or casual acquaintances.
Reflect, brethren when you hear the announcments of the various meetings of the Mutual Improvement Society, that you are hearing of an activity that means much to the future of our community. Do what you can to encourage the younger people, especially, to come along. We have need of those who are training to become “workmen that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividinz the Word of Truth.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One